The final
issue of New Super-Man and the Justice
League of China. It’s been a challenging road, as the title has gone from
being a Superman variant to a Justice League variant, seemingly existing in its
own continuity, unfettered to the rest of the DC Universe.

In this final issue, the JLC
must face dark versions of themselves, as Super-Man takes them into the spirit
realm in a bid to rescue his master, I-Ching, from death. But it all proves to
be a tragic mistake, until Super-Man discovers yet another layer to the
Yin/Yang philosophy. The last few pages of the book tie off the series, in a
manner that seemed tacked on at the last minute because DC pulled the plug.

I am uncertain why the
character was created in the first place. We have Superman; do we really need another?
However, this version is slightly different from the more familiar Last Son of
Krypton, in character if not in power. As I continued reading the series, I
came to appreciate Kong Kenan’s efforts to achieve balance, and how Yang and
Yin were incorporated into his nature.

Where the series began to
stumble and ultimately fail was in the creation of a Justice League of China.
Again, why? We have a Justice League, and Asian variants of established
characters served NO PURPOSE. I suspect that’s Chinese knock-offs of DC Comics
characters are a hard sell in North America. Perhaps the average comic book
reader has little insight into Chinese society to appreciate how the JLC is
different from the JLA. And cares even less. So again – redundancy.

Had the series focused
instead on Kong Kenan and his role as a super-hero for Asia, the series may
have had greater potential. Eventually, he may have evolved away from the
Superman copycat mold. But we’ll never know, and I suppose that’s okay.